Is the market for vacation rental management moving in this direction?  

After over a decade in asset management where I currently oversee a portfolio of more than 45,000 apartment units nationwide for a large Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac lender, I am finally ready to get into my first small multifamily buy and hold investment.

Hi Christina,I am the CFO for a Pinellas Property Management in TB FL and I use the following methods when verifying income for military personnel. 

I would suggest that you rent the property and consider using a property manager who can finance the improvements for you up front and be repaid out of the rent so you can have passive rental income over the long run. 

I've also used GC's to complete full rehab jobs & depending on how much work a house needs and how comfortable I am with the rehab, often times I will sub out the work to different painters, handymen, electricians, plumbers, etc instead of using a GC.The more I do this the more comfortable I am managing the jobs myself and it often times saves me significant amounts of money on the rehab costs to just sub out the work vs using a GC for the full rehab.

Hi Margarita-Great question.There are many mental blocks and friction points to buying your first property.First off, just buying property outside of a first or second home to use is not done by most people and buying your first home is a major purchase for most people.That means the people in our immediate sphere of influence are not thinking about buying investment property, they see it as risky and out of a sense of protecting you or themselves encourage you not to do it.I remember having the same mental blocks and fears you probably do thinking about buying your first property or first investment property.The most critical thing to overcoming these mental blocks is self education and surrounding yourself with the best team of people to help you.An investor friendly Realtor who can refer you to an investor friendly lender, title company or closing office, property inspector, property manager, and insurance agent.Real estate is relational and having the best team will keep you out of the weeds.To Your Success!

Looking for help with general project management activities.

Most work this way Rates: 9% to 13% (Most Deals are 11-12%)Terms: up to 36 Months (Most Deals are 6-12 months)Fees: 2-4 points(%) of loan amount paid at closing (Most Deals are 3 points(%))Minimum Loan Amount: $50,000 (For loans less than $250,000 $2,500 minimum fee)Max Loan: 65%-70% of After Repair Value(ARV)100% Rehab Financing Available (Require 20% of purchase price down payment or cross-collateral)Closing Timeframe: 48 Hours - 3 Weeks (Most Deals are 2 Weeks)NO PRIMARY RESIDENCES, NON-OWNER OCCUPIED ONLY, BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL USE ONLY.

I was a property manager in Grand Rapids and managed almost 100 doors.

Thinking about setting up a property management company to use for my rentals to show the income as part of the management company rather than personal finances.